Kukla's Korner Hockey

The 2010-11 cap crunch facing the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks and their big- mar ket brethren will be more severe than believed if the Escrow Hawks within the NHL Players’ Association carry the day and the balloting when the 30 player reps vote on whether to trigger the 5-percent inflator at the union’s June 21 meeting in Chicago.

Following a round of PA conference calls conducted during the week, a half-dozen player reps and engaged union members told Slap Shots that the outcome of the vote appears too close to call, though one veteran suggested he thought it remains more likely than not that the union will hold to precedent and enact the 5-percent bump.

f the union votes it down, next season’s cap all but certainly will go down, too, a first for the league that is coming off a blockbuster playoffs. If the cap would increase approximately $2 million, to $58.8 million including the bump, as Gary Bettman previously has suggested, it appears as if the cap would shrink to approximately $56 million if the player reps become consumed with limiting escrow while missing the bigger picture